Autoblog's Cadillac insider dismisses today's large XTS front-drive sedan as a placeholder, and not a "real" Cadillac. The new car, in contrast, will be an honest contender against the entrenched competition, he promised.

However, the incredible new S-Class set the competitive bar much higher than anticipated, he conceded. "I didn't think they still had it in them to build such a car."

Nevertheless, Cadillac's new car will meet the challenge of the new Mercedes, he insists. Certainly the excellence of Cadillac's recent new cars suggests that the company knows how to compete with
the Germans, so there is no reason to believe that it can only build excellent compact and mid-size sport/luxury cars. And a recent conversion to the religion of low mass should assist Cadillac in its quest to deliver world-class driving dynamics along with comfort.

Inside, Cadillac advocates continue to battle entrenched bureaucracy that requires that cars' retail prices yield a certain profit margin, an approach that makes it impossible for a company that needs to re-earn its credibility to make headway using prices that are lower than those of the established competitors. This is why some General Motors cars lack content that would be expected in their segment; such content would either erode the hallowed margin or push the sticker price too high. Engineers' insistence on proper equipment in Cadillac products has pushed their list prices upward.

The solution, to help re-establish the brand, is to allow lower profit margins on cars design to recruit new customers to the brand. Other luxury marques are willing to lose money on certain halo vehicles for the same purpose. "I guarantee you the Audi R8 and BMW i8 have never made a profit," said our source.

Whatever the outcome, we now know when we will learn the result: When the new sedan debuts in New York.

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Thank you give this man a raise! No one will remember CTS, MKX, grrrr!!! Im 35 and grew up with Town Cars and Sedan De Villes and Continentals. I want those names back! Thats American luxury. But what will GM and Ford do? Continue with the opposite, change brand names(because people care that Lincoln went to Lincoln Motor Company! Thats CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!), wait no, lets change the,badge, yes! That will sell more cars. Sheesh.

I cant wait.......its only up from here and that should also stand with its models......nothing should slot below the ATS.....cadillac goal shouldn't be chasing volume like the big German 3 are doing......focus on interior refinement and driving dynamics......let buick and GMC worry about putting GM in the black......cadillac needs one hella of an eye candy model...jag has its F-type, audi's R8, acura's NSX, BMW's i8,.........cadillac needs a reincarnated XLR if it wants to bring youth into the show room....

NOT A SPORTS CAR! Make a cruiser like the Elmiraj or the Sixteen that came out a few years ago. Their are dozens of sports cars to compete with, but only Cadillac can make a classy cruiser. It would compete with Rolls Royce for a fraction of the price.

Failed ? The XLR and XLR-V were far from Failures. They were a Flagship niche car to begin with. And slated for Limited production right from the start. With a 50/50 weight distribution and built on the Corvette platform this car is still sought after today. And with its stunning looks I still see people taking pictures of one in parking lots. (when you see one) The car was never marketed correctly and a loot of people never saw one or don't know what it is.

No they didnt......the last XLR was a half ass approach.....if done right with the technology GM is putting into its cars now....a new XLR would rival cars such as Ferrari......the new CTS-V is going to have around 610 HP......so a proper XLR would Gardner well into the 700 HP range....

It failed because the execution was poor. The concept of a luxury convertible sports car has hardly failed. Take a look at the Mercedes SL, the BMW 6 series, even the Maserati Granturismo, or the Porsche 911. And frankly the only V-series right now is the old CTS, so I don't think that's cutting it.

Do yourself a favor and price this flagship sedan $10K or $15K or even $20K below your identically equipped competition Your engineering crew has made great progress with the new CTS and ATS but you have priced them at very lofty elevations (dont even mention the ELR). As you don't yet have a brand-name/cachet of BMW, Audi, or Merc, your ticket to siphoning buyers away from those brands and winning their hearts-and-minds has to be PRICE (the Lexus model). If you continue making cars that the automotive press actually has something to gush about (new CTS, ATS and maybe this LTS - I hope), in time you can command premium prices but today is NOT that day. Until that actually happens, you will be at a disadvantage selling cars at ELR like MSRPs.

Cadillac ARE still priced thousands less than the Germans, so I find this article to be another typical anti-Detroit car hatchet job.
The CTS, depending upon options, is a good $5k less than a similarly equipped Mercedes, Audi or BMW.
The automotive press, to a large degree, drives buyer perception of these new Cadillacs, and they constantly praise the hell out of the new models - even stating that they are even better than the Germans. Yet time and again, they say they are just as good, but too expensive. What is this nonsense? Just as good product (or even better), and still cheaper, but still not cheap enough? The Germans have gotten a free-pass on their over-priced cars for years now. Pretty much didn't matter what they charged, the press wold fawn all over them, and never even question the price. That's BS.

$5K is easily made up in resale value of the Benz. The Caddy has to be about $20K less expensive than a comparable S-class, and to be sure, the Cadillac is a long way from being comparable to the S-class.

If you look at the naming scheme, A-, C-, S-, and so on, I'd expect Cadillac to call this new sedan the ZTS. It would make zero sense to ignore the last letter in the alphabet and risk letting the XTS appear to be slotted about this flagship. We'll see.

The only thing wrong with the Elmiraj is the tippy-toe stance; lower it just 1" in front and 1 1/2" in the rear, and Shazam! Adios, A8, S-Class, and especially that wart-like LS460 (or whatever the hell they call it now).

"Inside, Cadillac advocates continue to battle entrenched bureaucracy that requires that cars' retail prices yield a certain profit margin, an approach that makes it impossible for a company that needs to re-earn its credibility to make headway using prices that are lower than those of the established competitors. This is why some General Motors cars lack content that would be expected in their segment; such content would either erode the hallowed margin or push the sticker price too high." Never underestimate GM's legendarily myopic and dysfunctional corporate culture, and its ability to shoot itself in the the foot.